Inspiration From Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s New Song
This essay originally appeared in the Monday morning newsletter on 5/25/20.
Something I’ve loved about this time is a newfound appreciation for the little things.
I’ve written about gratitude before and my experience with a daily practice where I consistently wrote down a list of things I was thankful for. The catch? All the things had to happen in the past 24 hours.
Once I committed to doing the practice daily, I reaped the benefits instantly. Knowing I needed to come up with a list of things for the next morning, I went through my day looking for things to be grateful for.
When something made me smile or brought my joy, I automatically thought, “I need to remember this for tomorrow’s list!” It didn’t matter how small or trivial it was… if it brought me joy, it went on the list.
At the start of quarantine, I could feel myself getting out of sync. Knowing gratitude helps me manage my uncertain, anxious feelings, I started writing down five things every morning that I was thankful for. To take it a step further, I also committed to sharing a picture of my list on my Instagram story.
My intention was twofold. One, maybe someone would see my list and be inspired to do it with me and two, posting would hold me accountable.
Right now, when each day is pretty identical to the day before, finding things to be grateful for can be pretty comical. Tulips blooming, Tik Tok videos, a new dinner recipe, a funny-looking bird I saw on my walk have all gone on the list.
It’s not taking much to make me excited and sometimes I’m really reaching to find five things. But somehow, every day, I do.
Will I be thankful for these things post-quarantine? I don’t know, but I sure hope so. I know I’m building muscle memory around the fact that there will ALWAYS be something to be thankful for and that expressing gratitude for these simple things makes me a more joyful person.
As Sheryl Sandberg writes in her book Option B (more on this book below): “happiness is the frequency of positive experiences, not the intensity.”
On Friday, it seemed like the whole world was so excited about a new song from Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. While watching the first 10 minutes of the Today Show, I think I heard them mention it at least 5 times!
I wondered the same question as above: would everyone be as excited about a new song in “normal” times?
Who cares! I love that something simple brought people joy. And in fact, I couldn’t wait to listen myself.
I started to stream the upbeat tempo and 30 seconds later, I was struck by the lyrics:
“I’d rather be dry, but at least I’m alive
Rain on me, rain, rain
Rain on me, rain, rain.
I’d rather be dry, but at least I’m alive
Rain on me, rain, rain
Rain on me.”
I got goosebumps and immediately thought of something I had seen recently. Randomly on Pinterest, I had seen the following quote:
“Your first thought is what society has conditioned you to think. It’s your second thought that defines you.”
This quote made me think about those negative thoughts that will sometimes pop in my head about myself, my appearance and my self worth. The kind of thoughts that come out of nowhere – almost subconsciously – and make me feel horrible after.
I also thought about the times I’ve felt awful after making a snap judgment about someone else based on nothing else than a preconceived notion.
But now this quote’s simple and clear message sticks with me. I realized that I am not that first thought. And I have a chance to correct it with the thought that follows.
Maybe today you woke up in a bad mood. Maybe you’ve been experiencing a negative thought loop for the past couple of weeks. Why not try applying this framework this week and see what happens?
Take your own “I’d rather be dry” first thoughts and intentionally counter them with a positive “but at least I’m alive” second thought. I bet the end result would be pretty powerful.
“I’d rather be dry, but at least I’m alive
Rain on me, rain, rain
Rain on me, rain, rain.
I’d rather be dry, but at least I’m alive
Rain on me, rain, rain
Rain on me.”
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